The play The Merchant of Venice shows how people were back then,
compared to how they are now. This means that a simple play can show how much our society has changed. Ways such as racism, for example, the hatred the Jews and the Christians had for each other. Also, how money can effect the way you act, such as the way Bassanio acted to win Portias hand in marriage.
In the play, it shows a lot of racism toward the Jewish people. When Antonio
goes to ask Shylock to borrow money. Shylock says that Antonio once space on
him and called him trashy names, and now he wanted to borrow his money.
Shylock, rather than taking on what Antonio told him, he asked Antonio if he
wanted to be friends rather than enemies. Also, Portia was also racist to the
Prince of Morroco, because he was black. The play can show many ways of
how people were racist.
Some of the rich people in the play made themselves seem selfish. Back then
they seemed to rub it in other peoples faces that they were rich and because
they had a lot of money they felt as if they could do anything. Although Jessica
was already rich, she eloped with Lorenzo. She told her fathers ducats and his
jewels. This can be compared with the people of today because more and
more people are helping others who are in need. In older times they probably
did not care much about what other people needed, but only for themselves.
In the play, if a person borrowed money from someone else and did not return
the money they borrowed in a certain amount of time, the person who lend
them the money could cut off one pound of their flesh. In today’s society it
would most likely be illegal to such things. There would probably still be things
like that happening in our society if it weren’t for the change in the community.
The play can represent changed that happened in the past and the future. If
these changed did not happen there would probably still be much worse racist
people in the...